Lobby shop Podesta hires tech lobbyist, former aide to new Senate majority whip

Podesta Group, one of Washington's most lucrative lobby shops, is bolstering its technology practice by hiring a former aide to Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), the new Senate majority whip.

Matt Johnson was Cornyn's chief counsel from 2005 to 2013 before leaving Capitol Hill to join lobby and consulting shop McBee Strategic in 2013. At McBee — which is being acquired by the law firm Wiley Rein by the end of the year — Johnson represented companies including GE Energy, Google, JPMorgan Chase, Oracle and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.